FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Susan Morgan, 617 797 0451, susan@paxcommunications.org
CITIES NATIONWIDE – October 28, 2011 – In a matter of weeks, when the rainy season ends, a government-sponsored ground offensive in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains will likely begin. The people hiding in caves and on mountains since fleeing earlier aerial bombardment by the government are weakened and starving. They will be easy targets.
Against this dire backdrop, American citizen activists and Sudanese U.S. residents from across the country have formed a grassroots alliance — Act for Sudan — with a mission to end genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan. The new alliance is dedicated to advocacy that is directly informed by the situation on the ground and by Sudanese people who urgently seek protection, justice and peace.
The impending humanitarian catastrophe in the Nuba Mountains and in the neighboring Blue Nile region is the latest government-imposed humanitarian crisis in a pattern that has repeated itself for over 20 years under the regime of Sudanese president Omar al- Bashir, an indicted war criminal. In these marginalized areas, as in Darfur, the government of Sudan is violating basic humanitarian precepts of international law with total impunity.
According to Gabriel Stauring, Director of Stop Genocide Now of Los Angeles, California and a member of Act for Sudan, the alliance is run by volunteer activists and its virtual headquarters is in living rooms across the country. “We are a bipartisan, interfaith group of individuals representing grassroots organizations nationwide,” explains Stauring. “After advocating for Sudan for many years, we formed this alliance because we are distressed by the lack of action on the part of the international community and the U.S. government to protect innocent civilians. Through Act for Sudan, we hope to amplify our voices to elected officials.”
“With input from the diaspora and the displaced, Act for Sudan will base our advocacy on what is right for the marginalized people in Sudan rather than on what may be perceived as politically palatable here in the United States,” says Bill Andress, Moderator of the Sudan Advocacy Action Forum of Lexington, South Carolina and an Act for Sudan member. “We will use our influence as voters and people of conscience to encourage the U.S. government to help protect the people of Sudan.”
Organizational members of Act for Sudan currently include: Americans Against the Darfur Genocide; American Friends Service Committee; Beja Congress, Greater Washington D.C. Chapter; “Change the world. It just takes cents;” Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur; Darfur Action Group of South Carolina; Darfur and Beyond; Darfur Interfaith Network; Darfur People’s Association of New York; Essex County Coalition for Darfur; Genocide No More – Save Darfur of Redding, CA; Human Rights & Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND); Investors Against Genocide; Idaho Darfur Coalition; Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur; Jewish World Watch; Jews Against Genocide; Joining Our Voices; Lane County Darfur Coalition; Orange County For Darfur; Never Again Coalition; New York Coalition for Darfur and All Sudan; Nuba Mountain Peace Coalition; Nuba Mountains Advocacy Group, USA; Nuba Mountains American Advocacy Group; Operation Broken Silence; Our Humanity in the Balance; Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition; San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition; Stop Genocide Now; Sudan Advocacy Action Forum; Sudan Unlimited; The Institute on Religion & Democracy’s Church Alliance for a New Sudan; THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy; Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide RI; Voices for Sudan; and World Without Genocide.
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Act for Sudan is an alliance of American citizen activists and Sudanese U.S. residents who advocate for an end to genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan. Act for Sudan is dedicated to advocacy that is directly informed by the situation on the ground and by Sudanese people who urgently seek protection, justice, and peace. Our website at www.actforsudan.org is under construction.
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